Conclusion

2.5-inch hard disk drives have grown by a third in terms of recording density: from 160 to 250GB per platter. Their storage capacity has increased proportionally, but what about their performance? This test session has given us the answer. It is the speed of sequential operations that has increased the most. Western Digital’s products (they make a good example because they have similar firmware) show an increase from 65 to 80MBps. This amounts to 25%, which is quite a lot. The only problem is that you can only see such performance benefits when reading or writing large files. At ordinary operations the drive’s firmware has such a great effect on its performance that the 160GB-platter models are often ahead of the Samsung, which has two higher-density platters but less effective firmware algorithms.

Talking about the specific products, the 500GB Scorpio Blue drive from Western Digital has inherited the good firmware of the previous models of the series. Besides, it has new electronics and has become more economical. As a result, this is a universal product that stands out among its opponents.

The Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 was not brilliant under server loads and at sequential operations (which is no wonder as it has three 167GB platters rather than two 250GB ones) but it feels all right under real-life loads. Its 3-platter design and increased thickness is its main downside. Hopefully, the company will switch to new platters soon and produce a worthy 2-platter opponent to the Western Digital.

The Samsung SpinPoint HM500LI is a disappointment. The huge potential of its platters is spoiled by ineffective firmware. Its electronics should be revised, too, in order to catch up with the opponents in terms of power efficiency. Anyway, this HDD is going to be popular because there are few 500GB 2.5-inchers available as yet. Its high storage capacity is a strong factor in favor of this product.